Join us for Songwriter's Night at The Listening Room Cafe on Tuesday, April 17th. The Listening Room features some of the best up and coming singers and songwriters in town. Plus, they have great food!

The Arc Williamson County and The Arc Davidson County and Greater Nashville will be sponsoring the Inaugural Festival of Trees Preview Party on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at the Holiday Inn-Vanderbilt from 5-7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $20 each ($10 for self-advocates) and guests will enjoy live music, heavy hors d'oeuvres, cash bar (plus one drink ticket/guest), silent auction, and door prizes. Decorated trees by area disability organizations will be on display. Tickets may be purchased at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/d/tn--nashville/festival-of-trees/

This “Inaugural Event” is generously hosted by the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt in Nashville, located in the heart of Nashville’s West End/Vanderbilt area. The preview party will be in the hotel’s lobby showcasing the trees’ lights and decorations. Guests will also have the opportunity to visit the famous Commodore Grill and enjoy an evening of music with local songwriters. The hotel hosts various events and weddings during the holiday season, offering opportunities for trees (identified by sponsor) to be viewed by many local and event guests for several weeks.

The Tennessee Department of Health has partnered with The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville to administer the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Targeted Family Support Program effective July 1, 2017. The intent of the statewide program is to benefit the individual with disability due to traumatic brain injury. This program will assist those individuals and their families to remain together in their homes and community. The program is modeled after the DIDD Family Support Program as described in the Family Support (TCA 33-5-201). The statewide program will enroll 119 individuals and grant a $2000.00 allocation per fiscal year. Persons currently enrolled in the ECF and CHOICES waivers are eligible to apply. One cannot be enrolled on both the Tennessee Family Support Program and the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Targeted Family Support.

Please refer interested individuals/families to The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville Traumatic Brain Injury Family Support Coordinator, London Anderson. She will be happy to assist individuals and families in completing the intake form and explaining the eligibility process.

Achieve with Us to Prevent Devastating Cuts to Medicaid (TennCare) Funding

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed the House in early May with a vote of 217-213. It is now in the hands of the Senate. Our advocacy must continue. This legislation proposes a $857 billion cut to Medicaid funding over time. Senator Lamar Alexander and Senator Bob Corker must hear from their constituents that these cuts cannot be allowed to happen – that they would be devastating to people with I/DD and their families.

The Arc Tennessee needs your help. We need you to lend your voice to the cause. We know that everyone is busy. We know your time is valuable. There are many things you can do to help that take less than five minutes. Please see all the options below and please commit to doing as many as you can…

If you have a few hours:

Schedule a meeting with Senator Alexander’s staff at the local office closest to you – go on your own, go as a family, or go as a group representing The Arc

Schedule a meeting with Senator Corker’s staff at the local office closest to you - go on your own, go as a family, or go as a group representing The Arc

If you use social media, “friend” Senator Alexander and Senator Corker on facebook – then share posts from The Arc TN, The Arc US and others that provide information on the devastating impact of Medicaid cuts

“Like” The Arc Tennessee on facebook and share our posts

“Like” The Arc US on facebook and share their posts

Follow The Arc TN and The Arc US on twitter – “retweet” posts

These activities are not just “one and done” – they need to hear from you on a regular basis.

In addition to having hard working and very dedicated staff, The Arc DCGN also has staff with great culinary skills. We make up reasons to get together and share food. Recently we celebrated National Chili Day with a Chili Cook-Off.

We had six contestants who brought out their best chili recipe to compete in the contest. The rules were tough and competition was stiff. Contestants had to make enough chili for 10-15 people, list all the ingredients, let the tasters know if it was hot, medium or mild, but could not disclose who made the chili.

So as to not show any favoritism, our panels of judges were chosen from our neighbors in our office building. Judges rated the chili by color, aroma, texture, heat, and flavor. Special thanks to Shawn Sanders, Urban League, Anne Long, National Association of Social Workers Tennessee Chapter and Chrystal Liles of Central Defense. All three took their job as a chili judge very seriously. A very special thanks to Cindy Gardner with Special Needs Law Center for their sponsorship of the event.

Come join our Junior Advisory Board for a fun night of trivia supporting Spread the Word to End the Word. Tuesday February 28th at the Flying Saucer 111 10th Avenue South Suite 310 Nashville, TN 37203. Trivia starts at 7:30. See you then!

Spread the Word to End the Word is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies and our supporters to inspire respect and acceptance through raising the consciousness of society about the R- word and how hurtful words and disrespect can be toward people with intellectual disabilities.

Future Planning is creating a guide for a person with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to lead a good life as independently as possible. A person-centered future plan reflects the wishes of the person with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, as well as his or her parents, siblings, extended family members and friends, and other important people in his or her life. The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville can help families create a plan when no plan is in place for the future. This service is free of charge and the plan can include information about all aspects of a person’s life.

For more information about these services please contact: Sheila Moore at 615-321-5699 ext. 216 or Monique Jenkins ext. 224

During our annual Sprout Film Festival, The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville and The Arc Williamson County were able to raise $5,000.00 for post secondary scholarships for people with disabilities. For information about our scholarships please contact Sheila Moore at smoore@arcdc.org or Sharon Bottorff at sbbarc@thearcwc.org.

The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville would like to thank everyone for their participation and donations at our annual Sprout Film Festival!

Special Education Advocacy Center (SEAC) is collaborating with The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville, Autism TN, and Down Syndrome Association to present a webinar for parents and advocates on Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavioral Intervention Plans.

When: Monday March 2nd from 9:30a-10:30a.

How do I register? Click the link below, and complete the registration form. Once you are registered you will receive instructions on how to connect to the webinar the day of the event.

It may seem like a small change, but The Arc has been expanding programs in a big way over the past few years. With that, has come a new name change - The Arc Davidson County is now The Arc Davidson County and Greater Nashville!

We embarked on the process of changing our name nearly a year ago, in order to better reflect the outreach that our organization does. Over the years, our Employment and Family Support programs have expanded to include families from not only Davidson County, but also the 20 surrounding counties in Middle Tennessee.

With the name change, comes a slight update to our logo. You will see the change made on our materials and website over the next few months. While the change seems small, we are excited that it better reflects what we do here at The Arc.

Rendering of Fourth North, an Urban Housing Solutions project in East Nashville. The agency is considering expanding service to include more individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Nonprofit agency Urban Housing Solutions Nashville has worked extensively to provide low cost housing for the homeless and veteran populations in Nashville for many years. The agency recently began looking at extending services to individuals with disabilities who may or may not need support to live independently. The group is working with a local committee of stake holders to create more options and is interested in talking with individuals or family members of individuals who desire to transition to such housing in the next couple of years.